Argentina-Netherlands fight for a place at top-4
Lionel Messi's conquest to win his maiden World Cup trophy is up against a Dutch challenge in the second quarter-final of the Qatar World Cup at the Lusail Stadium in Doha on Saturday.
Argentina eased past Australia in the Round of 16 while the Netherlands knocked out the USA to reach the quarter-finals.
Squads
Netherlands: Andries Noppert, Jurrien Timber, Virgil van Dijk (c), Nathan Ake, Denzel Dumfries, Marten de Roon, Frenkie de Jong, Daley Blind, Cody Gakpo, Memphis Depay, Steven Bergwijn
Argentina: Emiliano Martinez, Nahuel Molina, Cristian Romero, Nicolas Otamendi, Lisandro Martinez, Marcos Acuna, Rodrigo De Paul, Enzo Fernandez, Alexis Mac Allister, Lionel Messi (c), Julian Alvarez
1'- The match kicks off
10'- No real chances in the first 10 minutes. Argentina attempted some crosses, none of them threatened the Netherlands goal
THROWBACK: A stunner from Dennis Bergkamp
21'- CORNER
Netherlands get a corner after Otamendi cleared a promising chance for the Dutch. Argentine defence safely negotiate the corner kick
22'- Messi shot goes over
Messi tried to make something happen out of nothing in an evenly matched contest so far. But his left-footed strike went way over the Dutch goal post
24'- Bergwijn's shot goes wide
Netherlands had their first good chance of the match when Depay managed to get the ball through two Argentine defenders. But Bergwijn seemingly rushed his shot and missed his target by a lot.
31'- YELLOW CARD
Argentina assistant coach Walter Samuel received a yellow card for some unruly behaviour that caught the attention of the referee.
35'- GOAL for Argentina
A scintillating pass from Lionel Messi set up Molina for his first international goal, which gave Argentina a 1-0 lead.
40'- Messi shoots, but straight to the Dutch keeper
43'- YELLOW CARDS
Acuna saw a yellow card for his challenge on Timber. But Timber also suffered the same fate for shoving Acuna once after getting back on his feet
45'- YELLOW CARD
Argentine defender Romero was shown a yellow card for a handball.
45'- Five minutes added as stoppage time
47'- YELLOW CARD
Dutch substitute Wout Weghorst was shown a yellow card. This is the fourth booking inside the first half of the match
HT: Argentina 1 - Netherlands 0
In a first half which saw very few chances for both sides, it was a moment of brilliance from Messi and a calm and composed finish from Molina that gives Argentina a 1-0 lead over the Netherlands halfway into their quarter-final bout.
46'- SUBSTITUTIONS
Netherlands have made two half-time changes. IN - Steven Berguhuis, Teun Koopmeiners. OUT - Steven Bergwjin, Marten de Roon
51'- A rare miss from Messi. De Paul with the pass, but Messi couldn't get there in time
59'-Argentina miss the chance to double the score. MacAllister the culprit as his pass was too wide for De Paul
63'- Messi nearly makes it 2-0
Messi won a free kick from the edge of the box. Messi took the free-kick and the ball. thankfully for the Dutch, grazed the outside of the net.
64'- SUBSTITUTION
Netherlands make another change. De Jong comes in for Blind
66'- SUBSTITUTION
Argentina make a change. De Paul goes off the field as Parades replaces him
71'- PENALTY for Argentina
Acuna was fouled by Dumfries at the edge of the box, and the referee was quick to point to the penalty spot.
Messi stepped up to take the spot kick and unlike the match against Poland earlier in this World Cup, the Argentine captain scored to make it 2-0.
78'- SUBSTITUTIONS
Argentina make two changes. IN: Tagliafico, Pezella. OUT: Romero, ACUNA
Netherlands make one change. Weghorst comes in for Depay
82'- SUBSTITUTION
Argentina take Alvarez off. Lautaro Martinez replaces him.
83'- Netherlands pull one back
Netherlands scored from their first attempt on target in the match as substitute Weghorst's header give the Netherlands a slimmer of a chance with seven minutes of regular time left in the clock.
89'-Tempers flair, chaos ensues
Paredes cleared the ball straight to the Dutch dugout, which prompted the Dutch substitutes rush to the field. The referee sorted the chaotic situation shortly and Paredes was shown yellow for his actions.
90'- 10 minutes have been added as stoppage time
92'- Netherlands free-kick
Netherlands won a free-kick at right at the edge of the box in the second minute of stoppage time. Berghuis took the free-kick but couldn't get it over the Argentine defencive wall
100'- Netherlands equalise
Netherlands won a free-kick at the edge of the box in the final minute of stoppage time. In a brilliant move, Koopmeiners didn't take a direct shot at goal, in stead he gave a short pass to Weghorst, who sent the ball home for the second time in the match to take the game into extra time.
99'- Another free-kick for Netherlands
Otamendi once again conceded a free-kick, this time not as close to the Argentine box. But this time the Dutch didn't employ any other special trick and the Argentine defence easily averted the danger.
104'-Otamendi nearly gives Argentina the lead
This time it was Argentina who got a free-kick at the opponent's half. Messi sent a loopy ball inside the box and Otamendi nearly got his foot to the ball, but couldn't make a connection.
105'- first half of extra time ends without any goals
106'- SUBSTITUTION
Argentina make a substitution. Goal-scorer Molina is replaced by Montial.
112'-Argentina prepare for the penalty shootout
Argentina are seemingly preparing themselves for the penalty shootout, as they have subbed in a reportedly half-fit Angel Di Maria in place of defender Lisandro Martinez
113'- Gakpo out, Lang in for Netherlands
114'- Van Djik saves Netherlands
Lautaro Martinez's shot from inside the box was seemingly headed towards the goal. But Van Djik was at the right place at the right time for Dutch, as the ball deflected off of him and went behind for a corner.
115'- Argentina pushing for winner
Enzo Fernandes and German Pezella came close to winning it for Argentina in quick succession, but both of them missed the mark.
119'- Montiel denied by Dutch keeper Noppert
120'- Messi's shot takes deflection, goes for a corner
120'- Di Maria goes for direct shot from corner, denied by the keeper.
It comes down to the penalties
Argentine came close to scoring a winner thrice in the last three minutes but fate denied them. Now, the fate of the second quarterfinal of the Qatar World Cup will be decided on a tie-breaker.
First Penalty
Netherlands: Van Djik misses
Argentina: Messi scores
Second Penalty
Netherlands: Berghuis misses
Argentina: Paredes scores
Third Penalty
Netherlands: Koopmeiners scores
Argentina: Montiel scores
Fourth Penalty
Netherlands: Woghorst scores
Argentina: Fernandes misses
Fifth Penalty
Netherlands: Luk De Jong scores
Argentina: Lautaro Martinez scores
Argentina wins it on penalties
Argentina looked primed to win the match inside 90 minutes, before two late strikes from Weghorst took the match into extra time.
After a barren extra time, the match went to a tie-breaker. Argentina scored their first three, while the Dutch only scored once.
Enzo Fernandes then missed the fourth penalty while Woghurst scored for the Netherlands. Luk De Jong also scored from the Netherlands' final spot kick and it was all up to Lautaro Martinez, who is yet to score in the World Cup.
But Lautaro stepped up when it mattered the most, and Argentina defeated the Netherlands by 4-3 on penalties to progress to the semifinals.
Now, they will face Croatia in the semifinal, which is set to be the last dance for either Argentina's Lionel Messi or Croatia's Luka Modric.